Apparatus for visual detection of illuminated suspended matter in fluids



April 24, 1951 A. w. UHL 2,549,866

APPARATUS FOR VISUAL DETECTION OF ILLUMINATED v SUSPENDED MATTER IN FLUIDS Filed Dec. 23, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I no /4 2 72 A TH R WILL/AM UHL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 24, 1951 A. w. UHL

. APPARATUS FOR VISUAL DETECTION OF ILLUMINATED SUSPENDED MATTER IN FLUIDS Filed Dec. 23, 1944 Patented Apr. 24, 1951 APPARATUS FOR VISUAL DETECTION OF ILLUMINATED FLUIDS SUSPENDED MATTER IN Arthur William Uhl, 'Inwood, N. Y., assignor to Specialties Development Corporation, Bloomfield, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 23, 1944, Serial No. 569,535

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in ap- I paratus for detecting suspended matter in fluids More specifically, the invention is directed to the detection of visual observation of smoke particles or other suspended matter in air or other fluids.

The present invention is particularly concerned with the visual detection or observation of smoke in air by means of smoke detecting apparatus such as shown in co-pending application Serial Number 569,534 filed December 23, 194A, now Patent Number 2,485,588, issued October 25, 1949, wherein air is continuously drawn to a central observation station from a plurality of compartments or supervised areas whereby, when fire occurs in any of the compartments or areas, the air drawn from the compartments will have smoke gcommingled therewith, which, when illuminated bypassing through a beam of light at the observation station, is readily observed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention aresides in the provision of an apparatus of the character indicated wherein a plurality of light beams is directed on suspended matter in fluids whereby the visibility thereof is greatly increased over that provided by apparatus of this character heretofore known.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of means associated with each light beam for attracting attention to the presence of suspended matter in fluids.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of mean for illuminatin suspended matter in fluids whereby the suspended matter is rendered visible from various positions;

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of an apparatus of the character indicated wherein suspended matter in fluids is illuminated by light beams directed from different points.

A still further object of'the present invention resides in the provision of an'apparatus of the character indicated wherein the parts are readily removable for inspection, repair 01' replacement. Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or Will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention; and

line 2-2 of Figure 1.

The invention has numerous applications and may be employed for the detection of any suspended matter in fluids. However, for convenience of description, the application of the invention to smoke detection will be described, from which other applications of the inventions will readily be appreciated.

The apparatus of the present invention comprises a cabinet I0 for housing the various parts of the apparatus. A visual detection or observation section or unit I2 is suitably mounted within the cabinet Ill and includes a main visual chamber M. This unit also includes lower and upper series of individual chambers l8 and I6, respectively, diagrammatically illustrated, which for convenience of description will be referred to as spotter chambers, and preferably, are of similar construction as the spotter chambers of said copending application Serial No. 569,534. R

The walls of all of the chambers are opaque and are rendered light absorbent by painting the same black or by any other suitable means.

A plurality of tubes or conduits 20 and 22 respectively lead to the spotter chambers l8 and i6 from individual supervised areas (not shown). The number of tubes or conduits and spotter chambers is determined by the numbe of areas to be supervised.

The cabinet is provided with an aperture 24 in its top wall which is adapted to receive a conduit 26 leading to a suction device such as a blower 28. The cabinet is air tight so that, when the blower is in operation, the cabinet is under vacuum and air is drawn through the tubes 20 and 22 from the supervised areas first through the individual spotter chambers, then through the main visual chamber and thence out of the cabinet to atmosphere. i

The main visual chamber M has a glass observation window 30, which extends across the frontof the chamber, as will be seen from Figure 1.

The rear wall of the main visual chamber has an opening 32 preferably elongated as shown in broken lines in Figure 1, through which the air is continuously drawn in the manner heretofore described. A light bafile 34 in the form of a housing is secured to the rear of the main visual compartment about the opening 32 for the purpose of preventing any stray light entering the visual chamber through the opening. This baffle has an open end 36 through which the air is drawn from the chamber.

The visual unit-|2 is supported on a shelf [5 which in turn rests on bars or rails 38 secured to the inside of the sidewalls of the cabinet, whereby the entire unit may be removed, if desired, by merely sliding the--unitoutwardly of the cabinettonJthe bars or railszxafter. removal of a front cover section 40 of the cabinet. This unit includes, in addition to the main visual and spotter chambers, vertical light tubes 42 at either side of the unit, horizontal light tubes 44, brackets 46 and a supporting bar-48 vfor a lamp Each of the tubes and 22 has a collar 2! and 23, respectively, rigidly secured thereto through which the end of the tube projects. A plate 25, shown in Figure 1 fits over the. collars 2| and is secured to lugs 21 on the unit l2 by screws 29 or other securing means, whereby the tubes can be disconnected from the unit before removal of the latter. A similar plate is provided for the collars of tubes 22. This connection,

-*as'will =be appreciated,facilitates assembly of the apparatus as well as the removalof the unit -12, without disturbing the-settingof the tubes and "Z 2.

"Elbows bl formed at the joints between the horizontal light tubes and the vertical light t'ubes 'il2 are provided with mirrors 54 set at an angle of 45. Similar mirrors 55 are. provided at the upper ends of the vertical tubes. The ends of the horizontal light tubes 44 are provided with lenses 52'which are .manually adjustable whereby: properly to focus the light rays from the lamp 59 on the mirrors 54.

Light isrefiected fromlthe mirrors 54 through xthe: tubes .42. onto the r'nirrors 5B and thence in opposed directions through the. main visual chamber Ill. The .ends' of the vertical light tubes :42: projecting "into the visual .chamber' are each provided with'ashield: 5ahaving a narrow vertically. extending slot 'w for confining thelight rays withinua predetermined'path in the visual chamber.

Smoke detectors as at present constructed have the disadvantage in that smoke particles illuminated by a single light source are rendered readily visible when viewed from an oblique angle relativeto the-light beams looking in one direc- --tion,.-but-are less visible when viewed from an angle looking in the opposite direction.

The use of the opposed light beams of the present invention overcomes the disadvantage of :prior smoke "detectors in that such beams 'greatlyincrease the visibility'of the smoke par- -ticles by rendering the same clearly 1 visible throughout the visual chamber and from'any angle.

Light chcppers'62 are provided on either side of the lampfiil. These choppers are in the-form chamber from the lamp 50 are intermittently and simultaneously interrupted whereby to cause a fiashingof light on the smoke particles to attract the attention of. the attendant. The motor 36 issupported on ashelfB'l. The tubes Zfiand .22 extend through openings in'this shelf where- -by thetubes are supported in their respective positions.

To prevent the light beamsbeing seen when an observerlooksinto the visual chamber from an angle at one side of the cabinet,.there is provided a triangular shape barrier "iii (Figure 2) :at-each end of the frame of the window Hi. The barrier at one end also serves to absorb stray light from the light-source at the opposite end.

'In addition, there is'provided a vertical baflle 12 on. e ach. of the shields -58 adjacent the edge of .1

the slot 5:3 therein and. on theafside of: the slot adjacent the window 30.

The front cover section Bil has a suitable horizontally extending opening 4! (Figure 2) which is in alignment with the window 3c of the main visual chamber l4.

During operation, the blower 28 is continuously operating to draw air out of the cabinet, the main visual lamp 5G is always illuminated and the motor 66 is energized to drive the light choppers S2. It is to be understood that two blowers and two motors may be employed and conventional switching mechanism provided for alternately switching one blower on and the other oil and one motor on and the other oil periodicaliy whereby to avoid the continuous operation "of a singlebiower and motor.

With the blower and motor operating and the main lamp 5B illuminated, air is drawn through the several tubes or conduits 2G and 22 through their respective spotter chambers and into-the main visual chamber it from which the air passes by way of conduit 25 out of the cabinet.

When fire occurs in one of the supervised areas, the air drawn from that particular area through the tube leading therefrom will'be/commingled or laden with smoke. When this smoke laden air reaches the main visual chamber, the opposed beams of light will illuminate the smoke particles, thereby rendering the same clearly visibfe from any angle,'and the intermittent interruption of the light rays produced by the light choppers will cause afiashing. of the light thereby attracting the attention of the attendant; The attendant observing: smoke in the main visual chamber immediately is warned that firethas broken out in one or more of the supervised areas at the remote end of one or more of the tubes.

' While the present invention has been described in connection with smoke detection, it is tobe understood that the apparatus may be employed for the detection of any suspended matter in any fluid, by merely connecting the tubes 20 and 22 to the source of the fluid containing suspended matter to be detected or observed.

It will be seen from the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings that the present invention provides novel apparatus for detecting suspended matter in fluids, such as smoke in air, wherein the suspended matter is rendered readily visible and wherein the attention of the attendant is readily attracted to the presence of suspended matter. It will also be seen that the parts of the apparatus are readily removable for inspection, repair or. replacement.

As various changes may be made inthe form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificirr any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for detecting suspended matter in a fluid comprising a cabinet, a chamber :in said cabinet, means for directing .fluid to said chamber, a window for said chamber, a single source of light for said chamber, tubes at each side-of said light source and extending to oppositeends of said chamber, reflecting means in said tubes forrefiecting beamsof. light into said chamber in opposed directions whereby. toiilluminate suspended matter: in said: chamber and render the same visible through said window; and-meansiin 2. Apparatus for detecting suspended matter in a fluid comprising a cabinet, a main visual chamber in said cabinet, means for drawing fluid through said cabinet and said chamber, a window for said chamber, a single source of light for said chamber, horizontally extending light tubes at opposite sides of said light source, vertical light tubes secured to said horizontal tubes and extending to opposite ends of said chamber, reflecting means at the junction of said tubes and at the ends of the vertical tubes for reflecting light beams into said chamber in opposite directions whereby to illuminate suspended matter in said chamber and render the same visible through said window, and rotating means in the path of said light for intermittently interrupting said light beams.

3. Apparatus for detecting suspended matter in a fluid comprising a cabinet; a detecting unit in said cabinet comprising a visual chamber and means for directing opposed beams of light into said chamber to illuminate suspended matter in fluid therein; means for removably supporting said unit in said cabinet; conduits supported in said cabinet for conveying fluid to said chamber, and means for removably securing said conduits to said unit whereby to facilitate removal of the unit from the cabinet without disturbing the setting of said conduits.

4. An apparatus for detecting the presence of smoke in a supervised space comprising means forming an elongated chamber in communication with the said space, an elongated window in one wall of the chamber, a light source, means for directing air from said space to said chamber, and means at opposite ends of the chamber for projecting opposed beams of light from said light source in directions parallel to the longitudinal axis of said window to illuminate smoke particles in the air in said chamber, whereby to render the particles visible through said window at any angle from points along a plane substantially parallel to the longitudinal axes of the light beams.

5. An apparatus for detecting the presence of smoke in a supervised space comprising means formin an elongated chamber for the fluid having an inlet and an outlet, an elongated Window in one wall of the chamber, means for directing a continuous flow of fluid through said chamber,

and means at opposite ends of the chamber for projecting beams of light through the chamber in opposite directions parallel to th longitudinal axis of said window to illuminate smoke particles in the fluid, whereby to render thesmoke particles passing through the chamber from the inlet to the outlet visible at any angle through said window from points along a plane substantially parallel to the longitudinal axes of the light beams.

6. An apparatus for detecting the presence of smoke in a supervised space comprising means forming an elongated chamber for the fluid having an inlet and an outlet, an elongated window in one wall of the chamber, means for directing a continuous flow of fluid through said chamber, means at opposite ends of the chamber for projecting beams of light through the chamber in opposite directions parallel to the longitudinal axis of said window to illuminate smoke particles in the fluid, whereby to render the smoke particles passing through the chamber from the inlet to the outlet visible at any angle through said window from points along a plane substantially parallel to the longitudinal axes of the light beams, and means for intermittently interrupting said light beams.

ARTHUR WILLIAM UHL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of'this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

